I KISSED A GIRL AND I LIKED IT THEN I WENT TO HELL
So, in the hope of improving Biblical literacy, here's today's Bible study, thanks to ihasatardis. No seriously. That's a real church sign, not one of the plentiful joke ones.
Now IMHO there's a little Scriptural blunder in the sign which I'd like to draw to your attention. (I am hardly a Biblical scholar, so your (informed) comments are welcome.)
The Bible mentions lesbianism only once, but is, erm, not exactly positive about it (it's Paul, sigh). Here's the NIV version of the passage, Romans 1:26:Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
Paul's in the middle of a lengthy rant about how those who haven't accepted Christianity have therefore turned to all kinds of sin and wickedness, including anything-goes orgies. (Interestingly, the Romans accused early Christians of holding their own orgies. It's a stock accusation which every religion uses against its rivals.)
So that's the basis of the Ohio church's sign. Unfortunately, they seem to have stopped reading somewhere around the orgies, because just a few lines later in Romans 2, Paul pulls out his punchline:You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
He goes on to make his meaning pretty explicit:you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
This is one of a number of New Testament warnings against hypocritical piety, including Jesus' words in Matthew 7 - the famous "Judge not that ye be not judged." (Fred Phelps and co are very keen on Galatians 6:7 but not so keen on Galatians 6:1.)
So, in short, the third line of the Church sign simply ignores Paul when he becomes inconvenient to their message. Tch tch tch. They want to see an opthamologist about that beam.
ETA: In further unnatural usage news, Frank is currently sleeping in the litter box. :P
Now IMHO there's a little Scriptural blunder in the sign which I'd like to draw to your attention. (I am hardly a Biblical scholar, so your (informed) comments are welcome.)
The Bible mentions lesbianism only once, but is, erm, not exactly positive about it (it's Paul, sigh). Here's the NIV version of the passage, Romans 1:26:Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
Paul's in the middle of a lengthy rant about how those who haven't accepted Christianity have therefore turned to all kinds of sin and wickedness, including anything-goes orgies. (Interestingly, the Romans accused early Christians of holding their own orgies. It's a stock accusation which every religion uses against its rivals.)
So that's the basis of the Ohio church's sign. Unfortunately, they seem to have stopped reading somewhere around the orgies, because just a few lines later in Romans 2, Paul pulls out his punchline:You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
He goes on to make his meaning pretty explicit:you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
This is one of a number of New Testament warnings against hypocritical piety, including Jesus' words in Matthew 7 - the famous "Judge not that ye be not judged." (Fred Phelps and co are very keen on Galatians 6:7 but not so keen on Galatians 6:1.)
So, in short, the third line of the Church sign simply ignores Paul when he becomes inconvenient to their message. Tch tch tch. They want to see an opthamologist about that beam.
ETA: In further unnatural usage news, Frank is currently sleeping in the litter box. :P